Bacteria Art – This Could Go Viral!

Jun 7, 2014

OK. OK. I hear the groans. (Giggle) My brain can’t resist playing with words the way Zachery Copfer plays with bacteria – fancifully, lovingly. Microbiologist-turned-artist, Copfer has had a long, close, I might even say symbiotic interaction with bacteria. He got to know them so well he can induce bacteria growth in predicted patterns to form some familiar faces.

While in grad school, Copfer began to use art as a vehicle to rediscover the mysteries of science that once fascinated him so. Now, he creates visual art that is about exploring the beauty and poetry that reside in scientific theories.

“My methods are often a fusion of contemporary artistic and modern scientific practices. I have called upon my background to employ various bacteria as my artistic medium of choice. I am fascinated by the ability to make visible the living blanket of microorganisms that exist just beyond the human range of perception and that without our knowledge affect us so intimately.”

By exposing specified sections of microscopic organisms to radiation and allowing other sections to thrive, Copfer is able to create temporary halftone portraits in Petri dishes and other scientific vessels. In Stephen Fry’s picture, the image is made up of bacteria that actually invaded Fry’s body!

Do you find this art as infectious as I do? Another groan?
Sorry. I couldn’t resist the bacteria. Hee hee hee. 🙂